Ah, but after Great Ormond Street, Sheffield, Manchester and Liverpool are the best hospitals in the UK for children and we have a child who is going to spend a lot of time having surgery after surgery, most probably!

Off to Southampton to discuss her hips and her new-found scoliosis tomorrow.

i know it very well,i have lived in it for about 30 years over 5 1/2 decades.

good transport links to east and west
healthcare depends on what you need as to world class or could do better.
the nicer places to live are to the west side of the town.holme and colne valleys are nice,the high villages are nice.
property ranges from cheap to if you need to ask you cant afford it but is mid range compared to wages.
the town centre has all the usual shops but few independents.
land ranges from cheap to overpriced (horsey types etc etc ) but some moderately sized houses have a very big garden/attached land.
it all slopes and it is often raining and windy.
allotments are available in some parts.
it is a town but bigger than many cities
pretty good for entertainment,pubs ,restaurants,
school education depends where you are, college and uni good

the locals are a surly violent bunch which can be bad(the footie types and barn drinkers are a pita) or good if like a long tradition of chartist,luddite,socialist and anarchic thought,alternatives who get on with different alternatives.

the locals are quite a friendly and kind bunch which can be bad if you want to get on with something rather than chat or good if you need to find nice new friends nearby.

many foreigners have become locals over the centuries among the more recent intakes have been a large set of groups from what was british india many of whom are great grandparents to locals as well as more recent arrivals and many poles post ww2 and more recently.southerners are tolerated as are folk from all manner of other mythical places.

the main local employers are the uni and gov.org but there are many small and medium businesses (see transport to leeds /mancs).

places to look at for house with land range from south facing valley slopes(north facing ones are dark all winter as tis steep) and south facing gentle slopes higher up(at least you get sun even if it is windy)
the rainfall is higher in the west hills than in the east valleys by a metre a year and some of the hill farms are very wild, in some places even a landy is a henhouse every few years if it snows a lot.

tv research includes last of the summer wine,happy valley,town,etc etc which is fine for the landscape but to get to know the place a decent longish visit is best as many folk love it when they get to know it but a few really dont so look before you leap

I've researched pretty much every county for suitability for the kids, Willow in particular, we've seen properties that would be absolutely perfect with a couple of acres of land. We've seen some that would enable us to be mortgage free!

But then I walk Arthur to school, a school he has happily skipped in to every single day, yesterday a little girl in his class took his hand and walked in with him, both beaming. How could we choose to take him away from that? When he stops enjoying it, we will make a change together, as we always planned to. His class love him and him them, I have a problem with the education system as it is but he doesn't. I suspect his feelings will change in the next 18-24 months so we can reassess then on staying locally or leaving altogether.

We both saw ourselves growing old here, it's nice here, we are part of the community. But, this house isn't the right house for a wheelchair user so we need to move or make big adaptions to it, that will give us less garden. I've put our names on the allotment list and I'll be keeping our eyes peeled for a house with more suitable layout. That smallholding was enticing but it will always be there. Yes, we will both be a few years older but we have time on our sides.

We might always regret not moving but better that than having an unhappy boy who we knowingly took away from a good school and a good class of kids who accept him for who and how he is.

And Willow's school is great, too, she beams when we arrive at the gates. She would find similar happiness elsewhere, but I can't be sure Arthur would.